[ALMS Race] The Grand Prix of Mosport

[jborelli]

Keep it up Falken Team, like to see you guys stand on the top again, rain or not. The level 5 withdrawl ****ed me off for sure, Kyle Marcelli looked good for the hometown fans until the crash. I'd like to see the Lotus doing better, I like the car cant wait to see it when it is fully developed. Lack of competition in P1 kinda sucked though

[Purist]

Articus, I'm not sure any one series does their camera angles particuarly better than the others on the whole.

What would help EVERY series is having more of the shots closer in, and not relying nearly so much on those long-angle lenses that make it look like F1 cars are doing 35-mph into Parabolica at Monza. The curb cams can be nice to have a little of, but those work better on ovals, where the banking gives those shots a real third dimension, which provides a much more stunning perspective at the end of the day. Having a good director is always helpful, especially when two cars with onboard cameras are dicing, and switching back-and-forth with the right timing can really do wonders for how you see the fight.

Technology has, in some ways, maybe hampered the sensation of speed also. Remote cams can be "too smooth" in their motions. Even manned cams can be too steady at times. Some of the old long-angle shots still looked rather impressive for portraying speed, because the mount was less steady, so the camera was visibly shaking while the man behind it was trying to keep up with the cars in his viewfinder.

As a final note on this, it should be rather telling that easily the most spectacular, and somehow terrifying at the same time, onboard lap to watch in F1 is Monaco.

Lebanza, I can't say that I'd be that excited about a GT-only ALMS; I might not even watch if that was the case, at least not watch the more minor races. GT/TC-only series have a more second-tier connotation over here also. I should add that NO GT-only series in the US has live TV, and their races are already all sprint format anyway: Trans-Am, Continental Tire Series, SCCA World Challenge, etc.

I can't explain it, but upon seeing my first sportscar broadcast that I can remember (ALMS Sears Point 1999 on NBC), I could pick out which cars were in which class pretty well right from the off, and I'd never seen most of those types of cars, and the few I had seen I'd only spotted in a few, small photographs in AutoWeek. And I saw my first GT(2) Porsche before I saw my first Cup Porsche, but I didn't need to see them side-by-side to tell just how much more tame the Cup car looked the first time I saw one. The LMPCs all look the same to one another, and don't have fins. And generally, the LMP675s/2s have just seemed physically smaller to me than the LMP900s/1s. It might be a placebo effect, but it seemed real enough to me. Even without that, I think a number of the LMP1s have visibly more complicated aero than the LMP2s anyway.

So again, I just don't understand the confusion, especially when I'm blind in one eye, and the other only gives me 20/400 vision, with my glasses. And on a cognitive level, multi-class racing should be perfectly comprehensible to anyone who's read a novel with multiple threads going on: "Lord of the Rings", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Red Storm Rising" to give just a few.

[FstrthnU]

Since we're here debating about camera angles, what do you guys think of DRIVE's "Trackside" series of ALMS videos?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ykxo...ature=g-user-u

I think these would look really cool in terms of presentation but they would not be practical for seeing the "racing". Personally I think the ALMS crew did a good job with the Mosport broadcast in terms of shots (the Level 5 vs. Conquest onboard was the highlight for me).

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Purist

Articus, I'm not sure any one series does their camera angles particuarly better than the others on the whole.

What would help EVERY series is having more of the shots closer in, and not relying nearly so much on those long-angle lenses that make it look like F1 cars are doing 35-mph into Parabolica at Monza. The curb cams can be nice to have a little of, but those work better on ovals, where the banking gives those shots a real third dimension, which provides a much more stunning perspective at the end of the day. Having a good director is always helpful, especially when two cars with onboard cameras are dicing, and switching back-and-forth with the right timing can really do wonders for how you see the fight.

Technology has, in some ways, maybe hampered the sensation of speed also. Remote cams can be "too smooth" in their motions. Even manned cams can be too steady at times. Some of the old long-angle shots still looked rather impressive for portraying speed, because the mount was less steady, so the camera was visibly shaking while the man behind it was trying to keep up with the cars in his viewfinder.

As a final note on this, it should be rather telling that easily the most spectacular, and somehow terrifying at the same time, onboard lap to watch in F1 is Monaco.

Lebanza, I can't say that I'd be that excited about a GT-only ALMS; I might not even watch if that was the case, at least not watch the more minor races. GT/TC-only series have a more second-tier connotation over here also. I should add that NO GT-only series in the US has live TV, and their races are already all sprint format anyway: Trans-Am, Continental Tire Series, SCCA World Challenge, etc.

I can't explain it, but upon seeing my first sportscar broadcast that I can remember (ALMS Sears Point 1999 on NBC), I could pick out which cars were in which class pretty well right from the off, and I'd never seen most of those types of cars, and the few I had seen I'd only spotted in a few, small photographs in AutoWeek. And I saw my first GT(2) Porsche before I saw my first Cup Porsche, but I didn't need to see them side-by-side to tell just how much more tame the Cup car looked the first time I saw one. The LMPCs all look the same to one another, and don't have fins. And generally, the LMP675s/2s have just seemed physically smaller to me than the LMP900s/1s. It might be a placebo effect, but it seemed real enough to me. Even without that, I think a number of the LMP1s have visibly more complicated aero than the LMP2s anyway.

So again, I just don't understand the confusion, especially when I'm blind in one eye, and the other only gives me 20/400 vision, with my glasses. And on a cognitive level, multi-class racing should be perfectly comprehensible to anyone who's read a novel with multiple threads going on: "Lord of the Rings", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Red Storm Rising" to give just a few.

kerb shots work, look at V8 Supercars.

[gregtummer]

Tracking shots and wide angle shots work if you are showing a battle, but you do not get a good sensation of the speed or the character of the track.

Go on youtube and look for videos of the 2011 Petit Le Mans taken by spectators sitting in the esses. You get a sense of the REAL elevation change and speed that these cars are doing.

I had been watching these things for 5 years now and when I went to Petit last year, I was shaking my head in amazement at those things.

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by Matt

kerb shots work, look at V8 Supercars.

I love those shots!

Originally Posted by gregtummer

Tracking shots and wide angle shots work if you are showing a battle, but you do not get a good sensation of the speed or the character of the track.

Go on youtube and look for videos of the 2011 Petit Le Mans taken by spectators sitting in the esses. You get a sense of the REAL elevation change and speed that these cars are doing.

I had been watching these things for 5 years now and when I went to Petit last year, I was shaking my head in amazement at those things.

Agreed.

Chris

[Matt]

It would ruin a prime viewing spot, but there really should be a camera positioned on drivers left at the Downhill on Lime Rock Park, just past the bridge. There'd you get your sense of speed.